Feed the forest discussion

General
#1

Good morning guys!

FEED THE FOREST DISCUSSION

So I want to talk about the card Feed the forest. Many people see it as an auto-include in green decks. The real strength of the card is that you can change the state of the board quickly by using FTF on for example an Oakling or Living Willow, then summon a different (likely stronger) card in a stronger position.

Personally I haven’t used FTF very much, it doesnt seem that great to me.
Lets run some numbers.

Best targets for FTF is probably Living Willow and Oakling, right?

Living Willow

Feed the forest costs you: 1 Faeria, 1 card.
Living willow costs you: 3 Faeria, 1 card.

Play feed the forest on Living Willow = Spend 4 faeria and two cards. To gain 7 faeria and 1 card.
FTF on LW = +3 Faeria -1 card.

If we assume that you play FTF on Living Willow right after it has been played, you gain 3 Faeria but lose a card.
The best situation is ofcourse if we already had Living Willow down for some time, collecting Faeria before we use FTF on it.

Oakling

Feed the forest costs you: 1 Faeria, 1 card.
Oakling costs you: 5 Faeria, 1 card.

Play feed the forest on Oakling = Spend 6 faeria and two cards. To gain 5 faeria and 1 card. A random card in your hand gets +5+5.
FTF on Oakling = -1 Faeria -1 card. A random card in your hand gets +5+5.

Using FTF on Oakling is one of the most satisfying plays a green player can do. Getting +5+5 on a random card in your hand basically costs you only one faeria and one card.

Keep in mind that these are (arguably) the best targets for the spell, and both have prerequisites that are not too easily fulfilled. FTF can become a dead card in your hand.

I think that one of the biggest reasons why I haven’t played FTF myself is because I use a lot of high mobility cards in my decks which makes the biggest strength of FTF, to change the state of the board, slightly less valuable.

So many people out there absolutely love this card! Please share your thoughts :slight_smile:

#2

If we assume Ruunin was just dropped for its original cost (8), and then tripple-feed’ed.

Ruunin (1) costs us 8F, 1 card
Feed the forests costs us 1F, 1 card.

We get spend 9F and 2 cards to gain 6F and 2 cards (we get Ruunin back) = -3F.

Ruunin (2) costs us 6F,
Feed the forests costs us 1F, 1 card.

We get spend 7F and 2 cards to gain 6F and 2 cards (we get Ruunin back) = -1F.

Ruunin (3) costs us 4F,
Feed the forests costs us 1F, 1 card.

We get spend 5F and 2 cards to gain 6F and 2 cards (we get Ruunin back) = +1F.

So in total, we spend 4 cards (Ruunin +3x FTF) and 3 Faeria to gain a 2cost runin.

#3

You forgot that FtF makes you draw, so triple FtF on Ruunin actually costs 3 Faeria and a card (Ruunin itself) to gain a 2 cost Ruunin, but it is a 4-card “combo”. The problem with doing that is that Ruunin does nothing before being sacrificed, so yes, you’re getting a 2-cost Ruunin in the process (which is a 6/6 for 3, not bad), but you loose 3 cards that can have some impact (I usually use FtF to “relocate” a threat (sacrifice one that’s going to die anyway/has no more use to put down another one at the opposite of the board). Of course, FtF is also good in ombo with Ruunin, as long as you don’t face a blue or a rush :wink:

By the way, J0k3se, you forgot the strongest interaction of all : Stormspawn !
Cost of Stormspawn : 10f, 1 card
Cost of FtF : 1f, 1 card
Gain : 15f, 2 cards
Total : 4f, 0card cost (but requires a stack of faeria, plus a bicolor deck with 3-forest requirement)

My thoughts are that even out of combos, running 1 or 2 of these can still be a nice addition

1 Like
#4

FTF basically does not cost a card, you neither gain or lose a card by playing it. Ruunin cost one card, but you gain it back if Ruunin dies (without being transformed first). The FTF cards have to be spent though, even if you don’t lose cards by doing so (you have 27 cards + 3 FTF in your deck).

FTF is extra (really) good if you run decks that benefit from card-cycle (Faeries, Wandering Monk, combodecks) or events.

This is, like I said, where I think FTF’s biggest strength is! Personally I have tried to use other means to achieve this, without having to sacrifice my minions (Shifting tides, Prophet of Tides, Syland Horsemaster, Windborne, Triton Banquet). Both ways of doing this has its own advantages. The FTF way forces you to position your new minion on your own land, but it can have longer reach than for example Shifting tides or Syland horsemaster. The biggest upside with using movement tricks instead of FTF is that you can attack with the creature the same turn you move it. Plus it always feels bad to kill your own guys!

Oh right, yeah I forgot about Stormspawn.
By playing Stormspawn + FTF you end up with: +4F as you said without falling behind on cards in your hand (if you can meet the prerequisites).
I am usually happy though if my opponent plays Stormspawn into FTF because it wastes a 4/5 body that would anyway be free once I kill it, and they can force me to kill it by threatening my orb or my creatures (unless I am playing blue and can transform it ofcourse).

I’m gona try it! :slight_smile: I really like the idea of being able to change the board drastically by removing a minion and summon a bigger one where it has more impact on the game. But I am still not convinced! :wink: